2018’s Hottest Artists Under 25

Some of the stars who are having some of the biggest successes in country music in 2018 have not yet reached the age of 25.

Lauren Alaina and Kane Brown return to our Hottest Artists Under 25 list in 2018. Both are veterans of the list, having appeared on it both in 2017 and previously in 2016, but 2018 has been by far the biggest year either one of them has seen yet. In fact, the two former high school friends both scored a No. 1 hit with "What Ifs," a duet on which they collaborated. Brown also scored a solo No. 1 hit with his latest single, "Heaven," and Alaina won her first ACM Award for New Female Vocalist of the Year. This will be Brown's last year to make the cut; he'll be 25 by this time next year, but if Alaina keeps climbing the career trajectory she's been on, she could very well appear on the hottest artists under 25 in 2019 list, too.

You'll see some other familiar names on the list in 2018, including Danielle Bradbery, who shook off her old Voice persona with a very mature new project. Taste of Country predicted big things for Kalie Shorr when we named her as a RISER for 2017 and placed her on this list last year, and she delivered by landing CMT's Next Women of Country Music Tour with headliner Sara Evans. Maddie & Tae are back with a new song on a new label and an upcoming project, and there are two additions to the list in 2018 that you might find surprising — a promising young sibling duo, as well as one young performer who's barely into double digits, but you can hardly turn on the TV or your computer without seeing him somewhere.